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Giving It a Spin

This weekend, I gave the new layout a spin.

I'm sewing components for my latest quilting project-- components that are string-pieced on a paper foundation.

String-Piecing

It's going well-- I'm having fun-- and I unequivocally love having the iron right by my sewing station for quick pressing.  It makes the whole process so much faster and easier!  No more repeatedly getting up and down for no good reason!  I can't imagine going back to the old way after this.  Nope; I'm determined to have an iron within reaching distance of my sewing machine, from now on.  

String-Piecing

Here's a peek at some of the string-pieced components, along with a handful of the strings.  Those papers under the magnetic pin-"cushion"/dish are my foundation papers, cut from an old phone book. I'm still new to paper foundations, but I think they're working pretty well.

String-Piecing

Here's another view of the sewing corner.  There's the iron, within easy reach.  I also had my tablet set up beside the sewing machine so I could watch/listen to quilting podcasts as I sewed.  With no TV or computer in the room, the tablet provides entertainment (especially when there's nothing good on local radio).

String-Piecing

Seeing that unfinished quilt top on the back of my chair is a reminder that there are other projects that also need attention-- but this string-pieced project is seasonal, so that's my top sewing priority.

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I've also started a small knitting project just for the fun of it.  (I have UFOs that I feel guilty about, but I "needed" something new-- preferably new and quick.)  It's a cable swatch.  I'm planning to knit a collection of cable swatches to frame and hang in my craft room as decorations.  There are a lot of cable patterns I'd like to try, and with decorative swatches, I can test out more of them without making the commitment (in time and yarn) that comes with a full-fledged project.  (Even so, I may run out of frames and craft-room wall-space, at some point.)

Knitting Cables

I'm a bit out of practice with knitting (not that I've ever been more than an low-level "intermediate" knitter), but setting aside mistakes and flaws, it's always amazing to watch cables grow.  They look so complicated!  I feel like a "real knitter" when I'm making cables.  The same thing goes for lace and brioche.  A crafter's rush-- a knitter's high! ;o)